Abbotsford student dies on ski trip to Whistler

Fourteen-year-old male was found unresponsive below cliff area on Blackcomb Mountain

Abbotsford's MEI Secondary school says one of its students died Friday, March 3 on a ski trip to Whistler.

An Abbotsford student has died on a ski trip to Whistler, confirmed MEI Secondary school.

The school said 11 students and two staff members belonging to the MEI Secondary Ski & Snowboard Club were in Whistler on Friday, March 3 when a student was reported missing in the afternoon. Whistler Blackcomb Ski Patrol was notified and a search was conducted in an area of Blackcomb Mountain where the 14-year-old male was thought to have entered. The teen was found unresponsive below a large cliff area, Whistler Blackcomb said. Despite efforts to revive the male, he was pronounced dead on the scene.

“Whistler Blackcomb extends our deepest sympathy and support to our guest’s family and friends,” said Dave Brownlie, chief operating officer of Whistler Blackcomb, in a release.

"MEI is working with our staff, student, parents, and supporting community to process this tragic news," according to a statement posted online by Vijay Manuel, head of MEI Schools.

Whistler RCMP and the BC Coroners Service are investigating.

The tragedy comes a week after a New Zealand man died in a snowboarding accident in an out-of-bounds area of Whistler Mountain. Forty-two-year-old Kieran McDonogh was in the Cakehole area when he reportedly rode over a large wind slab at high speed, sending him approximately nine metres in the air. He suffered trauma in the fall and was later pronounced dead on the scene.